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FAQ # 11
QUESTION 11 : How is it John
said, “whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1
John 5:1)?
A
careful study of the entire book will show that John was addressing a
current problem of identification among a body of believers, to where
this epistle was sent.
There
must have been at this church a problem with knowing who is really saved
and who is not. For he spent this entire epistle identifying who are the
ones born of God and who are the one’s faking it. In essence, he pointed
out the things that identify a genuine born-again believer, from an imposter.
He
started out this book (1 John) in the earlier parts of Chapter 1 with
this thesis, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all;”
a clear identification of who God is.
Then
he begins to identify a genuine born-again believer:
In
Chapter 1,
·
If we say that we have fellowship with
him, and walk in darkness we lie.
·
If we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ
his son cleanseth us from all sin.
·
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us.
In
Chapter 2,
- And
hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
- He
that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar,
and the truth is not in him.
- But
whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:
hereby know we that we are in him.
- He
that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as
he walked.
- He
that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness
even until now.
- He
that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion
of stumbling in him.
- Who
is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist,
that denieth the Father and the Son.
- Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth
the Son hath the Father also.
- If
ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness
is born of him.
In
Chapter 3,
·
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not:
whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
·
Little children, let no man deceive you:
he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
·
He that committeth sin is of the devil;
for the devil sinneth from the beginning.
·
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin; because he is born of God.
·
In this the children of God are manifest,
and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not
of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
·
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer:
and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
·
But whoso hath this world's good, and
seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion
from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
·
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth
in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the
Spirit which he hath given us.
In
Chapter 4,
·
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world.
·
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every
spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
·
And every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.
·
Ye are of God, little children, and have
overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in
the world.
·
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth
us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth, and the spirit of error.
·
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for
God is love.
·
No man hath seen God at any time. If we
love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
·
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and
he is us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
·
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is
the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
·
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his
brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath
seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
In
Chapter 5, the first verse and text in question reads,
·
“whosoever believeth that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God” [Here, “born of God”
is the same thing as being born-again.]
In
essence, any man that is born of God must have believed that Jesus is
the Christ or else he is not born again. This is the most fundamental
identification. For example, one cannot claim to be a doctor and posses
no certification from some tertiary institution. Like wise, no one can
claim to be born again and lack the fundamental belief that Jesus is the
Christ. This probably occurred at the church where this epistle was sent.
Therefore, these church leaders who enquired of John , could now easily
identify and refute those who claim to be born again and deny that Jesus
is the Christ, by this epistle.
On
the other hand, they are many people in the world today that believe Jesus
is the Christ and are not born again (saved).
“Receiving
Jesus Christ, that is not being born again,” says Pastor Larry Huch. Receiving
involves believing that he is the Christ.
A
few brothers and myself went on a street evangelism one night armed with
tracts. We were targeting the nightclub areas. While talking to a man
who was convicted by our God led efforts, another man came out of the
club and passed us by. We attempted to give him a tract, as we had done
to everyone that passed by.
In
astonishment, he exclaimed, “whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.” He even gave us where it was taken from in the Bible.
When we proceed to talk to him he gave us more scriptures and exclaimed
that he was a Christian.
When
we asked him why was he in a secular night club as a Christian, he gave
us numerous excuses. Among them was, “could it be that I was looking a
wife and being a Christian could I not convert a soul to salvation?”
Dear
reader, this is a clear example of one who claims a belief in Jesus Christ
and knows the scripture, but is not born again. Verse 4 of 1 John 5 tells
us, “for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world.”
One could say that this is one of the main effects of being born again
– freedom from sinning. Therefore, according to the book of 1 John, this
bible-toting club-goer is not born of God.
Being
born of God is not mere initial belief that Jesus is the Christ, however,
if one is born of God, it is impossible to deny that Jesus is the Christ-
a ‘give-a-way’ identification.
The
entire book of 1 John was teaching us how to identify someone who is born
of God from someone who is not. This includes chapter 5 verse one, “whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”.
John
himself said at the end of this epistle, “These things have I written
unto you that believe on the name of the Son God: that ye may know that
ye have [and can identify them that have] eternal life.” (1 John 5:13).
The most fundamental identification is whether one believes that Jesus
is the Christ (Messiah) or not. Reason being, without first affirming
this, no one can be saved; it’s the essences of our faith.
Guess
what?
He
was the same writer that recorded
how one becomes “born of God.” In another book he wrote, “except a man
be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
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